Performance Magazine - Issue 25

There are several paradoxes that spring to mind when we consider asset management in France:

• The French despise money because of a genetic predisposition to revolution. Yet they are also among the western hemisphere’s greatest penny-pinchers, with one of the highest savings rates.
• They value their unusual pay-asyou- go pension system, but have known for some time that changing demographics will prove detrimental to intergenerational solidarity.
• The French see retirement as a savings priority (54 percent expressed this view, according to the Deloitte retirement survey). However, only 6 percent of their income goes to retirement savings (Deloitte retirement survey).
• Their tax system does not encourage risk taking, since short-term banking products are exempt, whereas interest income is taxed at over 60 percent, dividends at over 40 percent, and capital gains at 25 percent to 60 percent based on the holding period.
• Although there are 630 management companies in France, including 420 entrepreneurial companies (of which 200 are less than five years old), only 13 AM companies manage assets in excess of €50 billion, and only a single one is among the global top 10.

Interview: The asset management industry
Yves Perrier Chief Executive Officer at Amundi

What has become of French boutiques?
French third-party management accompanying the "French boutiques" boom

A new world for real estate investors
As the world changes, progressive real estate asset managers are discovering new opportunities

Breathing a new life into investment taxation
The French Finance Nill 2018

Insurance Distribution Directive
2018: a challenging year for the European insurance sector

Brexit bill
Will transitioning to a new structure create tax cost?

International Investment Disclosure Trends
The dawn of the fully transparent era